One of the original factory wires started arching, so we replaced the plug wires. We also replaced the factory original fuel pump with the epoxy over the terminals. And the oil pressure sending unit. Note the crud built up on the radiator.
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The radio did not work. Kurt had the idea of temporarily replacing it with the one we removed from the Wagon to put in the RetroSound. The silver face looks ok with the rest of the dash and it fit in the area, well sort of.
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The Fair Lady has a custom radio face plate. So we found a broken one in the local pick-a-part yard and modified it to hold the modern radio. No way were we cutting up the original plate.
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The modified radio cubbie. The leftover area to the right will hold an MP3 player.
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The brakes had rusted up from sitting so much.
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We replaced the brakes with fresh rotors, calipers, pads, and upgraded to braided stainless hoses.
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And since the wheels were off, I gave the rims a good scrubbing.
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And Kurt touched up the center caps.
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We also noticed that the steering rack boots had deteriorated from sitting as well. The rack was fine, so we just replaced the boots.
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Kurt decided to do a radiator flush and remove all the built up crud. He removed the radiator and this is what he found plugging up the coolant passages.
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That is some very nasty water flushing out of the radiator.
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We cleaned up and painted the old radiator.
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Unfortunately after that, the radiator sprang a leak. So we replaced the radiator. That front flip hood was actually mostly out of the way for the radiator repair work.
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As we checked out more of the coolant system for leaks, we pulled off the old two-piece water outlet.
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We cleaned up the water outlet and replaced the water pump.
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The replacement radiator in place . . . and then something else started leaking. We think it is a freeze plug on the side of the block. That won't be as easy to fix. But since it is November, it can wait until Spring.
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The Ranchero is done, so it's time to fix the rusting out hood hinge area. The inside of the replacement hood is a silver blue, the original color for the donor car.
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Partially stripped of paint and no major body work needed.
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Since this isn't a full color spray, just a hood, we choose a quick strip method using an electric orbital sander.
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The few minor dings and scratches that sanding did not level out.
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The color matched silver paint in single-stage enamel.
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Spray time. This is just a single piece, the weather is nice, and the garage is full of the Wagon as we finish the body work, we choose to spray the hood outside. We had to create a shaded area to prevent the paint from drying too fast.
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One of the plastic louver inset panels. The silver is picking up the red color of the nearby enclosed trailer.
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The other louver panel.
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One hood ready to go onto the car.
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Looking much better. There are still other spots of rust, but this will work for now.
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